7,055
by Project Uber Proxy
Summary: Shaw continues to navigate between virtual reality and her own subconscious through Samaritan's 7,055 simulations. However, her concept of virtual reality and her own reality become blurred as the simulations intensify. (**CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM S5**)


"Change of heart, Ms. Shaw?" A deep, haunting voice seemed to ring through Sameen's ears as she slowly came to, only to be blinded by bright lights that beamed down at her in the hospital-like bed.

A grunting noise came from the dark skinned woman as she tried to regain enough consciousness to gather where she was. Her brows furrowed quickly as she tried to scan the room, but her squinted eyes were distracted by the sight of a dark figure in front of her. After a few blinks, she looked up to see the one and only, John Greer.

"You think…" she muttered in the process of catching her breath, "after 7,054 times…" her voice trailed off and her eyes began to grow heavier with every second that passed by. Puzzled and frustrated by her own apparent exhaustion, Sameen forced her eyes to open and to lock with Greer, who was standing at the end of the bed she was laid out across. Clearly pleased by the sight of an exhausted Sameen, the corner of John's lips began to form a pleased smirk. It was obvious that his warped simulations were taking a toll on the feisty woman.

"You seem quite tired, Sameen." John stated emotionlessly, as he inched closer to her. "Are you positive you don't want to change your mind?" John questioned the exhausted woman, only to see her now fiery eyes lock onto his. "You know, it's not wise to push yourself past the point of exhaustion in a vulnerable position, Ms. Shaw."

"Never." She hissed back at the older man, clearly displeased with even the thought that she would give up her loyalty to not only her team, but to the only thing that could stop Samaritan and all that it entailed.

"As you wish, Sameen. Again, we have all the time in the world." John responded to Sameen's harsh answer. And just like that, Sameen was thrown back into the virtual reality of her own mind for the 7,055th time.

"Are you okay?" A soft, soothing voice filled the tiny bathroom as the brunette popped her head into check on the obviously startled dark skinned woman. Dazed and confused by the flashing images which often came to plague her mind now, she only found herself staring at a very concerned Root as the momentary seizure ceased. At a loss of words by her own experiences, it seemed like only seconds ago that Sameen had a gun and explosives in her hand - but now, they were gone.

"I...don't know," Shaw hesitated, as her eyes momentarily locked with Root, searching for some sort of reassurance that she was in fact, there - in that moment - _real_. Once always so sure of herself with little to fear, it was seemingly apparent that Shaw felt more vulnerable than ever. Could she even be trusted? Could Root be trusted? It was obvious for Sameen to see that Samaritan was in her head, but was it already too late for her to fight it off? Tears began to brim around her eyes as she realized that her own autonomy ceased to exist. She couldn't even trust herself. How were the others supposed to invest their trust into her as well?

"Come back to bed," Root cooed at the startled dark-haired woman. As she wished, Sameen followed Root's command without any protest. With Root's hand ready and reached out for her to lead her back to bed, Shaw's eyes fixated on the silhouette of the woman as they headed into the shadowy room. A thought ran across her mind, which seemed to calm the insanity in her mind: the idea of falling asleep next to the woman she immensely cared for. Exhausted by her own destructive and terrifying thoughts, it was simply Root's touch that seemed to calm her down enough to gain a sense of self again as the two headed towards the bed. The words, ' _Stay with me,'_ which Root used to calm Shaw's horrendous, racing thoughts seemed to replay themselves over and over and over in the dark haired woman's mind.

Crawling back into bed, Sameen gathered the covers enough to where she could get comfortable in Root's bed. Her eyes opened yet again though, when she felt the thin woman's arms wrap around her body. A soft sigh escaped from the brunette's mouth as she rested her head in the crook of Sameen's neck. "Goodnight, sweetie." She whispered into the ear of the dark haired woman. Although usually annoyed by the pet names, Sameen's eyes rolled back into her skull with a sense of momentary satisfaction before her mind was jolted back into the now normal seizure-like trance, where images began to flash before Shaw's eyes until they ceased into nothing at all.

Ripping herself back into reality, a loud noise rumbled through Shaw's head and dismantled her for a moment.

" _You were my safe place,"_ were the last words that left Shaw's mouth before she felt a sense of autonomy truly return back to her body.

As she tried to regain focus yet again on the sights before her, Shaw's eyes immediately focused in on the environment around her. A loud gasp escaped from the dark-haired woman's mouth as she immediately covered it with her right hand in absolute shock. Her body shook, not trembled, but physically shook every inch of her at the scene that had ensued moments before. Blood covered every part of the pavement on the playground, but to Shaw's dismay, it was apparent that it was not her own this time. Before she could even process another thought through her mind, she began to panic and the tears that once brimmed around her eyes began to fall freely from her face down onto the brunette's leather jacket.

"No, no, no, no…." Sameen choked out a sob as she looked down at the body of the lifeless Root. Grabbing onto the pale brunette, Sameen pulled her up onto her lap frantically. Wrapping her arms around the brunette, as if she could shake her away, Shaw stared down at the one person who actually cared about her more than she cared about herself. "Stay with me, Root," Shaw remained emotionless, though tears fell from her face. "Stay with me, stay with me," the dark-haired woman chanted over and over down to Root. But at this point, there was no use; Root's body had gone colder than ice and Shaw felt every part of her body go into a state of shock. She did her best to try to lift herself from the ground, but instead she reached for the gun that she had killed Root with.

With the barrel of the gun pointed to her head, her finger hovered over the trigger. With her heart pounding and her head clear of all thought, she closed her eyes, ready to pull the trigger when her mind again ripped away her from this reality yet again. But something wasn't quite right this time; there were no seizures, there were no flashing images, nothing of that nature. The only sensory input Shaw could process in this abrupt interruption were words - 7 to be exact.

" _Rise and shine, Sweetie. Time to go."_


End file.
